Department of Health Studies and Gerontology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
J Sch Health. 2010 Sep;80(9):445-52. doi: 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2010.00526.x.
Schools can be an efficient venue for promoting physical activity (PA) among adolescents. Physical education (PE) requires investigation because it is a variable associated with adolescent PA levels and its existence in schools represents a significant opportunity for strategies to combat declining PA levels among this population. This article examines the between-school variability in student rates of PE enrollment among a large sample of high schools in Ontario, Canada, and identifies the school- and student-level characteristics associated with PE enrollment.
This cross-sectional study utilized self-reported school- and student-level data from administrators and students at 73 high schools. Students' enrollment in PE, demographic, behavioral, and psychosocial variables was linked to school environment data comprising of school demographics and administrator assessed quality of policies, facilities, and programs related to PA. Analysis involved multilevel modeling.
The mean rate of PE enrollment among the 73 high schools was 62.4%, with rates by school ranging from 28.9% to 81.1%. When student demographics, behavioral, and psychosocial factors were controlled for, there was still a school effect for student PE enrollment. The school effect was explained by the provision of daily PE and school median household income.
This is the first study to examine the extent to which PE enrollment varies between schools and to identify school factors associated with school variability in rates of PE enrollment. Although most variation in PE enrollment lies between students within schools, there is sufficient between-school variation to be of interest to practitioners and policy makers.
学校可以成为促进青少年体育活动（PA）的有效场所。体育教育（PE）需要进行调查，因为它是与青少年 PA 水平相关的一个变量，而且它在学校的存在代表了对抗这一人群 PA 水平下降的策略的一个重要机会。本文考察了在加拿大安大略省的一个大型高中样本中，学生参加 PE 的比率的校际变异性，并确定了与 PE 入学率相关的学校和学生特征。
这项横断面研究利用了来自 73 所高中的管理员和学生的自我报告的学校和学生水平数据。学生参加 PE、人口统计学、行为和心理社会变量与学校环境数据相关联，这些数据包括学校的人口统计学和管理员评估的与 PA 相关的政策、设施和计划的质量。分析涉及多层次建模。
73 所高中的 PE 入学率平均为 62.4%，学校的入学率范围从 28.9%到 81.1%。当控制学生的人口统计学、行为和心理社会因素时，学生参加 PE 的学校效应仍然存在。学校效应由每日提供的 PE 和学校中等家庭收入来解释。
这是第一项研究，考察了 PE 入学率在学校之间的差异程度，并确定了与 PE 入学率的学校变异性相关的学校因素。虽然 PE 入学率的大部分差异存在于学校内的学生之间，但仍有足够的学校间差异引起实践者和政策制定者的兴趣。
